The novel 2D leaf-like zinc dendritic structures have been synthesized on ZnO buffer layer coated onto Si substrates.The growth process is described as free-catalyst

self-assembly and vapor-solid growth mode.The length of the Zn dendrite is about dozens of micrometers and its thickness is about 200 nm.The fastest growth direction of the dendrites is along the carrier gases downstream direction to release the latent heat of solidification.After the zinc dendrites have the thermal process in oxygen ambient

the slim and uniform ZnO nanowires are grown on the surface of Zn dendrites.The results of XRD analysis indicated that the ZnO nanowires are with a hexagonal wurtzite structure.The growth mechanisms of Zn/ZnO structures were investigated.The PL spectrum of Zn/ZnO dendritic structures shown that a weak UV near-band-edge emission is at 380 nm and a strong green emission is centered at 505 nm.The green emission is attributed to radiation transition of donor-acceptor pair.